Breaking: Kokrajhar Man Tests 'Positive' for COVID-19, Assam Tally Rises to 44

Guwahati, May 5, 2020:

A person from Kokrajhar district of Assam with a travel history to Cooch Behar in West Bengal has tested positive for the coronavirus. Notably, this is the first detection of the virus in the district that borders Bengal and the state's tally of cases has now risen to 44.

Assam Finance and Health Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who had teweeted out about the development, also informed that there are 11 active cases in the state; while 32 patients have been discharged, 1 person from Hailakandi district has succumbed to death.

It needs mention here that this is the second case of the virus that has been detected in Assam in a single day.

Apart from Assam, cases are also rising at a rapid rate in the state of Tripura, which has caused the number of cases on the Northeast to spike up exponentially.

Yesterday, 13 more cases of the COVID-19 were detected in Tripura, announced the State’s Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb. With this, the state’s tally of coronavirus cases rose to 29; while two patients have been discharged, twenty seven cases remain ‘active’. In Tripura, altogether 128 people are in facility quarantine whereas 572 people are in home quarantine. 5,611 samples have been collected and 5,394 have been tested.

Mizoram state, meanwhile, has become the latest in the Northeast to become free from the coronavirus. After a prolonged battle with the disease, the first and only Covid-19 positive case in the state of Mizoram has made a recovery and the state has now officially been declared ‘corona free’. He was undergoing treatment at the Zoram Medical College in Falkawn near the state capital Aizawl.

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After taking samples on 4 consecutive days, which were all tested at the Viral Research and Diagnostic Laboratory in Silchar Medical College, the Health Minister of Mizoram Dr R Lalthangliana last night declared all samples had returned ‘negative’.

Mizoram Chief Secretary, Lalnunmawia Chuaungo, told Inside Northeast that his results had been declared on May 3. “Thus, when the result came back and it was declared that it was negative, we could say that Mizoram has indeed become free from the clutches of the coronavirus”, he said.

In Meghalaya, only one of the patients is yet to recover. Talking to Inside Northeast, Meghalaya Minister Al Hek said, "Look, one patient died and eleven were being treated. Of those, ten patients have all reported a negative status. The last patient showed a positive status, however, we will be testing her again tomorrow to check whether she is finally free of the contagion."

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